As previously reported, Wedbush analyst Jason Weaver downgraded Ellie Mae to Underperform from Neutral based upon what is shaping up to be a disappointing year for mortgage originations in 2018, as well as some amount of skepticism around the company's ability to achieve its long-term growth and profitability targets in what is increasingly a maturing market for mortgage loan origination systems and a challenging market for their customers. The analyst also lowered his price target on the shares to $69 from $90.

04/20/18

ZELM

04/20/18UPGRADEZELMHold

Ellie Mae upgraded to Hold from Sell at Zelman

Zelman upgraded Ellie Mae to Hold from Sell, stating that they believe the stock price now reflects more skepticism.

04/16/18

BOFA

04/16/18DOWNGRADETarget $95BOFANeutral

Ellie Mae downgraded to Neutral from Buy at BofA/Merrill

BofA/Merrill analyst Brad Sills downgraded Ellie Mae and lowered his price target for the shares to $95 from $110. The analyst believes the company remains well positioned over the longer term but that weakening industry trends will cap near-term upside. Recent checks with customers and partners suggest that headcount reductions are occurring in the 10% to 15% range, stemming from rising rates, low inventory and declining margins per loan, Sills tells investors in a research note. The analyst thinks "near term volume dislocation from possible user attrition" is likely to cap upside to his estimates for Ellie Mae in fiscal 2018.

Wells Fargo analyst Peter Stabler upgraded MDC Partners to Outperform with an $11 price target. The analyst views the current valuation as compelling and believes MDC is well positioned within the agency sector.

TRUETrueCar

$9.44

-0.06 (-0.63%)

03/22/18

JPMS

03/22/18DOWNGRADETarget $10JPMSUnderweight

TrueCar downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JPMorgan

JPMorgan analyst Douglas Anmuth downgraded TrueCar to Underweight and cut his price target for the shares to $10 from $13. The analyst says softer industry trends and execution risk make him incrementally more cautious on the shares. He sees the company's 2019 growth target proving optimistic and believes the stock's premium valuation will likely deteriorate.

Benchmark analyst Daniel Kurnos rolled out coverage of the online automotive advertising marketplace with two Buys and one Hold rating. The analyst initiated CarGurus (CARG) and TrueCar (TRUE) with Buy ratings and price targets of $42 and $18, respectively. Kurnos also started Cars.com (CARS) with a Hold rating and no price target. The entire space is poised to benefit from positive secular tailwinds during the next five years as more money shifts to digital channels, Kurnos tells investors in a research note. His survey of 54 dealer and dealer groups indicates the online automotive advertising marketplace is not a winner-take-all scenario, but rather a "rising tide environment." The survey also indicated a "relatively unfavorable outlook and sentiment" regarding Cars.com.

04/04/18

DADA

04/04/18INITIATIONTarget $9.75DADANeutral

TrueCar initiated with a Neutral at DA Davidson

DA Davidson analyst Tom White initiated TrueCar with a Neutral rating and a price target of $9.75. White states that the company's online car buying platform empowers consumers with transaction prices on car sales in their local market, and its business model could be disruptive in the automotive marketing industry. However, the analyst also notes the rising competition in the online auto marketplace, opting to await more concrete signs that TrueCar's efforts are translating into rising conversion rates as it targets 20% growth and margin expansion in FY19.

After T-Mobile (TMUS) and Sprint (S) announced a merger agreement, Morgan Stanley analyst Simon Flannery said that while the $43B in estimated synergies is "impressive," the key question is how likely is it that the companies can gain regulatory approval. On competition, he thinks the deal may contribute to a more benign competitive environment in the near-term and that AT&T (T) and Verizon (VZ) could benefit from market consolidation, though he adds that the new T-Mobile would be a formidable competitor in new areas such as 5G and fixed broadband. Flannery added that the deal will be an overhang on tower and fiber providers, noting that part of their $4B in annual network synergies involves a reduction in tower counts from 110,000 to 85,000 over time. However, the analyst said he would expect much more gear to be deployed on each tower and small cells will still expand to 50,000 from 10,000. Tower operators include American Tower (AMT), Crown Castle (CCI) and SBA Communications (SBAC), which are all lower in pre-market trading.

05/01/18

DBAB

05/01/18NO CHANGETarget $36DBABHold

AT&T multiples at 'historical lows,' says Deutsche Bank

Deutsche Bank analyst Matthew Niknam sees value in shares of AT&T with "multiples at historical lows." Despite lowering his earnings estimates by 1%-2%, the analyst says the stock's "heavily discounted valuation is noteworthy." AT&T currently trades at 9.6 times 2018 earnings estimates, which marks its historical trough, Niknam tells investors in a research note. He believes the 6.1% dividend yield should provide additional downside support. Nonetheless, Niknam lowered his price target for AT&T to $36 from $41 and keeps a Hold rating on the shares.

05/03/18

RHCO

05/03/18NO CHANGETarget $35RHCOHold

AT&T price target lowered to $35 from $40 at SunTrust

SunTrust analyst Greg Miller lowered his price target on AT&T to $35 and kept his Hold rating, saying the company's Q1 results "highlight the various challenges" that it faces. While churn is improving and pre-paid net subscriber additions growth continues, the analyst sees a shift from Pay-TV to OTT model weighing on revenue and margins in the Entertainment and Internet segments.

05/02/18

BRRR

05/02/18NO CHANGETarget $110BRRROutperform

Odds in favor of Time Warner deal closing, says Barrington

Barrington analyst James Goss said he continues to expect the acquisition of Time Warner (TWX) by AT&T (T) to ultimately gain court approval and his Outperform rating in part reflects the significant gap from the AT&T takeout offer. He also sees relatively modest downside risk in the event of the deal being blocked, given the continued fundamental support based on existing Time Warner assets and operations, he tells investors. Goss maintains a $110 price target on Time Warner shares.

CONECyrusOne

$53.40

-1.16 (-2.13%)

03/07/18

WELS

03/07/18NO CHANGEWELSOutperform

Digital Realty now top data center pick at Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo analyst Jennifer Fritzsche says that her top data center pick is now Digital Realty (DLR), followed by Equinix (EQIX), CyrusOne (CONE), QTS Realty Trust (QTS) and CoreSite Realty (COR). The analyst believes Digital Realty is set to benefit from improving leasing trends in early 2018, with several large hyperscale deals likely coming. Digital Realty is also the only data center REIT that can self-fund growth in 2018, without a need to tap the capital markets for debt or equity, she contends. Fritzsche reiterates an Outperform rating on Digital Realty shares.

Citi analyst Michael Rollins remains concerned that CyrusOne's strategy of pursuing hyper-scale cloud customers through development and acquisitions will come at the cost of return on invested capital, without creating measurable differentiation for its portfolio or financial returns over time. The analyst believes negative releasing spreads and below peer average return on invested capital can support further multiple contraction. Rollins keeps a Sell rating on CyrusOne with a $48 price target. He remains a seller at current share levels.

11/10/17

DBAB

11/10/17NO CHANGETarget $71DBABBuy

CyrusOne price target raised to $71 from $64 at Deutsche Bank

Deutsche Bank analyst Vin Chao raised his price target for CyrusOne to $71 saying the company continues to see strong and stable demand. The analyst keeps a Buy rating on the shares post the company's Q3 results.

AMDAMD

$12.45

0.23 (1.88%)

04/27/18

JEFF

04/27/18NO CHANGETarget $42JEFFUnderperform

Intel model is 'showing signs of stress,' says Jefferies

Intel (INTC) beat and raised handily last night, but its model is "showing signs of stress," Jefferies analyst Mark Lipacis tells investors in a post-earnings research note titled "Nice Quarter - But Are There Cracks in the Facade?" He raised his price target for the shares to $42 from $38 but reiterates an Underperform rating on Intel, citing increasing capital expenditure intensity, free cash flow being well below earnings, delays in 10nm product ramp and process node transitions, declining gross margins, and increasing competition from Nvidia (NVDA) and AMD (AMD).

Morgan Stanley analyst Joseph Moore noted that all three subsegments in Intel's (INTC) data center group were well above trend in Q1, calling the strength in cloud expected but the strength in enterprise and data center comms "surprising." Citing challenges to Intel's manufacturing position, including its 10 nm being pushed out for a second straight year, along with competitive threats from Nvidia (NVDA) and AMD (AMD), he maintains an Equal Weight rating on Intel shares. However, e Moore said he has clearly been too cautious and underappreciated how good the surge in cloud spending would be for Intel, raising his price target on the stock to $54 from $43.

04/26/18

JPMS

04/26/18NO CHANGETarget $13JPMSNeutral

AMD price target lowered to $13 from $16 at JPMorgan

JPMorgan analyst Harlan Sur lowered his price target for AMD to $13 following last night's Q1 results. The analyst expects the competitive front to remain challenging and believes AMD will need to "invest meaningfully" in engineering resources as it attempts to keep pace with the market leaders, which he notes is "dampening earnings power expansion." Sur keeps a Neutral rating on AMD shares.

04/26/18

BARD

04/26/18NO CHANGETarget $20BARDOutperform

AMD blockchain and EPYC platform concerns overblown, says Baird

Baird analyst Tristan Gerra noted Advanced Micro Devices raised its revenue and growth expectations for the year following Q1 results. The analyst said the growth expectations are being driven by new products, while the blockchain-related mix is expected to remain stable. He also said the EPYC and Ryzen ramp continues and its 7nm migration signifies further share gains over time. Gerra reiterated his Outperform rating and $20 price target on Advanced Micro Devices shares.

WEXWex

$179.36

2.52 (1.43%)

04/26/18

SBSH

04/26/18UPGRADETarget $200SBSHBuy

Wex upgraded to Buy on margin expansion potential at Citi

Citi analyst Peter Christiansen upgraded Wex to Buy from Neutral and raised his price target for the shares to $200 from $165. Despite rallying 28% in the past six months, the stock should "grind further on continued organic momentum, though importantly on favorable margin dynamics," Christiansen tells investors in a research note. The analyst believes rising fuel prices represent a large component of potential upside. Further, he thinks WEX Health should begin to see margin improvement following several quarters on elevated investment.

03/14/18

MSCO

03/14/18NO CHANGETarget $235MSCOOverweight

FleetCor well positioned in 2018, says Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley analyst Vasundhara Govil believes FleetCor (FLT) remains a "compelling growth story" within payments, as he thinks its organic growth of about 10% is sustainable and views the company as well positioned in 2018. Govil also noted that he prefers FleetCor over Wex (WEX), citing FleetCor's lower exposure to fuel prices, more diversified revenue streams and potential for more M&A driven upside. He raised his price target on FleetCor to $235 from $232 while also raising his price target on Wex to $166 from $159. Govil has an Overweight rating on FleetCor and an Equal Weight rating on Wex.

04/26/18

04/26/18UPGRADE

On The Fly: Top five analyst upgrades

Catch up on today's top five analyst upgrades with this list compiled by The Fly: 1. Twitter (TWTR) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS, to Outperform from Neutral at Macquarie, and to Neutral from Underweight at Atlantic Equities. 2. Boeing (BA) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Societe Generale. 3. Chipotle (CMG) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BTIG, to Buy from Hold at Canaccord, to Neutral from Sell at Guggenheim, and to Market Perform from Underperform at Cowen. 4. Wex (WEX) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citi with analyst Peter Christiansen saying despite rallying 28% in the past six months, the stock should "grind further on continued organic momentum, though importantly on favorable margin dynamics." 5. Anthem (ANTM) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan with analyst Gary Taylor saying he continues to be comfortable with the near-term trajectory of medical cost trends for the health insurance industry and maintains a long-term preference to own payors over providers. This list is just a portion of The Fly's full analyst coverage. To see The Fly's full Street Research coverage, click here.

04/26/18

SBSH

04/26/18UPGRADESBSHBuy

Wex upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citi

NVDANvidia

$245.62

-9.75 (-3.82%)

05/11/18

SBSH

05/11/18NO CHANGETarget $300SBSHBuy

Nvidia price target raised to $300 from $270 at Citi

Citi analyst Atif Malik raised his price target for Nvidia to $300 following last night's Q1 results. Strong gaming demand coupled with the strength of the Volta architecture in the data center have driven Nvidia's revenue and earnings higher and faster than expected, Malik tells investors in a post-earnings research note. He continues to see upside in the stock and take his bull case for shares up to $380. The analyst keeps a Buy rating on Nvidia.

05/11/18

RSBL

05/11/18NO CHANGETarget $315RSBLBuy

Nvidia price target raised to $315 from $300 at Rosenblatt

Rosenblatt analyst Hans Mosesmann raised Nvidia's price target to $315 from $300 saying the company "continues to execute flawlessly" in its target markets and is in the early stages of the Volta GPU disruption in the datacenter. Mosesman does not view crypto as a relevant bear argument and believes Nvidia is in the center of one of the biggest transitions in the history of computing as GPUs are deployed within the datacenter as AI workloads increase while CPUs shift into a secular devaluation mode. The analyst said Nvidia is his single best idea and reiterated his Buy rating on Nvidia shares.

05/14/18

NEED

05/14/18NO CHANGETarget $325NEEDBuy

Nvidia price target raised to $325 from $300 at Needham

Needham analyst Rajvindra Gill raised his price target to Nvidia to $325 and kept his Buy rating after the company posted another beat and raise quarter. The analyst says Nvidia has improved its GPU supply amid a tight environment and also cites a 70% increase in data center revenues. Gill adds that Nvidia valuation remains high relative to its semi group peers, but it may be justified by the growth record of its revenue and earnings as well as the data center total addressable market and long-term tailwinds in autonomous driving.

05/11/18

RHCO

05/11/18NO CHANGETarget $316RHCOBuy

Nvidia price target raised to $316 from $305 at SunTrust

SunTrust analyst William Stein raised his price target on Nvidia to $316 and kept his Buy rating after its Q1 earnings, saying that while concerns around the crypto volume may send the stock lower today, the company would have beat expectations even excluding that segment. Stein adds that Nvidia fits his mold that favors "structural growth stocks" based on its performance in the datacenter, gaming, and potential for automotive businesses, while also raising his FY19 EPS target to $8.23 from $8.08.

JBLJabil Circuit

$27.77

-0.05 (-0.18%)

03/20/18

UBSW

03/20/18NO CHANGETarget $35UBSWBuy

Jabil Circuit shares attractive at current levels, says UBS

UBS analyst Steven Milunovich recommends shares of Jabil Circuit (Jabil) and Flex (FLEX) on the belief that Electric Components & Equipment names are re-rating as they move up the value stack to design as well as manufacture products. Investor confidence has been greater in Flex than Jabil, in large part due to Jabil's 25% Apple (AAPL) exposure, Milunovich tells investors in a research note. After meeting with management, the analyst finds Jabil shares attractive based on $3.00 in earnings per share in fiscal 2019 and higher free cash flow. He maintains a Buy rating on Jabil with a $35 price target.

02/27/18

STPT

02/27/18UPGRADESTPTBuy

Jabil Circuit upgraded to Buy from Hold at Standpoint Research

01/26/18

GSCO

01/26/18NO CHANGETarget $24GSCOSell

Jabil Circuit price target lowered to $24 from $26 at Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs analyst Mark Delaney lowered his price target on Jabil Circuit (JBL) to $24 and kept his Sell rating. The analyst contends that Apple (AAPL) may reduce its iPhone X production plans, impacting Jabil as its total company revenue derived from Apple is about 24%.

12/18/17

ARGS

12/18/17UPGRADETarget $36ARGSBuy

Jabil Circuit upgraded to Buy from Hold at Argus

Argus analyst Jim Kelleher upgraded Jabil Circuit (JBL) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $36 after last week's earnings beat, citing above-peer progress on sales/earnings growth and margin expansion. Kelleher says the company has moved past its execution challenges and is on track for multiple years of outperformance, thanks to its relationship with Apple (AAPL) as a "trusted vendor" and growth in its DMS business.

CHTRCharter

$270.32

-2.33 (-0.85%)

04/30/18

RHCO

04/30/18NO CHANGETarget $390RHCOBuy

Charter price target lowered to $390 from $440 at SunTrust

SunTrust analyst Greg Miller lowered his price target on Charter to $390 after a "messy" Q1 earnings report that suggests an increase in secular traditional video headwinds. The analyst sees a pattern of more customers disconnecting from multi-channel offerings "as promotional rates roll off" and the high-single-digit subscriber growth trend slowing. Miller keeps his Buy rating on Charter however, adding that the valuation following the 22% year-to-date decline in the stock price is compelling in spite of the subscriber churn.

04/30/18

WELS

04/30/18NO CHANGETarget $360WELSOutperform

Charter price target lowered to $360 from $460 at Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker lowered her price target for Charter to $360 from $460 following quarterly results. The analyst reiterates an Outperform rating on the shares.

02/07/18

RBCM

02/07/18NO CHANGETarget $420RBCMOutperform

Charter price target raised to $420 from $400 at RBC Capital

RBC Capital analyst Jonathan Atkin raised his price target on Charter to $420 and kept his Outperform rating after "solid" Q4 earnings "highlighted by improving video subscriber trends in the legacy Time Warner Cable footprint". Atkin expects Q4 to mark the trough in EBITDA growth as the Spectrum pricing and packaging penetration increases to about 70% by 2018-end, generating "reduced transaction volumes and a longer-tenured subscriber base".

03/26/18

COWN

03/26/18INITIATIONCOWNOutperform

Charter initiated with an Outperform at Cowen

AKAMAkamai

$76.29

-0.36 (-0.47%)

05/01/18

FBNS

05/01/18NO CHANGETarget $80FBNSOutperform

Akamai price target raised to $80 from $70 at FBN Securities

FBN Securities analyst Shebly Seyrafi raised his price target on Akamai to $80 after the company's continued strong Cloud Security growth and accelerating CDN and other revenue growth lead to revenue and EPS beating expectations in Q1. Higher media traffic volumes than the company expected were driven by robust traffic from video delivery and gaming customers as well as strong traffic from several sports events, he noted. Seyrafi maintains an Outperform rating on Akamai.

05/01/18

CHLM

05/01/18NO CHANGETarget $91CHLMBuy

Akamai price target raised to $91 from $84 at Craig-Hallum

Craig-Hallum analyst Jeff Van Rhee raised his price target for Akamai to $91 from $84 saying the company "crushed" the quarter on the top and bottom line and guided well ahead. The analyst reiterates a Buy rating on the shares.

05/01/18

RHCO

05/01/18NO CHANGETarget $78RHCOHold

Akamai price target raised to $78 from $70 at SunTrust

SunTrust analyst Greg Miller raised his price target on Akamai to $78 after its Q1 earnings beat and above-consensus guidance, saying the company has "moved past" the headwinds in media with new product launches and cost reductions. The analyst expects Akamai to continue to benefit from secular growth trends such as "over-the-top" media proliferation and sees the near-term outlook as "more bullish". Miller also keeps his Hold rating, noting that the stock valuation looks less compelling given the volatility around media.

05/01/18

OPCO

05/01/18NO CHANGETarget $90OPCOOutperform

Akamai price target raised to $90 from $80 at Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer analyst Timothy Horan raised his price target for Akamai to $90 from $80, citing "strong" quarter and guidance. The analyst reiterates an Outperform rating on the shares.

ABAllianceBernstein

$26.93

-0.05 (-0.19%)

06/05/17

SIDC

06/05/17INITIATIONTarget $28SIDCBuy

AllianceBernstein initiated with a Buy at Sidoti

Sidoti initiated AllianceBernstein with a Buy and a $28 price target.

10/26/17

SBSH

10/26/17UPGRADETarget $31SBSHBuy

AllianceBernstein upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citi

Citi analyst William Katz upgraded AllianceBernstein to Buy and raised his price target for the shares to $31 from $26. The analyst sees "significant room" for margins to expand, driving upside to consensus and strong earnings growth through 2019 and beyond. He also believes the recent management changes have not impaired the company's organic growth.

Roth Capital analyst Philip Shen believes the Senate Tax Cuts and Jobs Act includes multiple elements that could negatively affect renewable tax equity capacity, such as a cut in the corporate rate from 35% to 20%, the passage of the Base Erosion Anti-Abuse Tax, or BEAT, without exemptions for solar/wind credits, and a reduction in the number of years the product tax credit could be claimed from 10 down to four years. Near-term, the analyst believes that continued negotiations on the Hill could cause increased volatility for his universe of stocks with direct or indirect exposure to the U.S. solar and wind markets, such as AMSC (AMSC), Broadwind Energy (BWEN), 8point3 Energy (CAFD), Canadian Solar (CSIQ), Daqo New Energy (DQ), Enphase Energy (ENPH), First Solar (FSLR), Hannon Armstrong (HASI), Hanwah Q CELLS (HQCL), JA Solar (JASO), JinkoSolar (JKS), SolarEdge (SEDG), Sky Solar (SKYS), ReneSola (SOL), Sunworks (SUNW), and TPI Composites (TPIC).

Axiom analyst Gordon L. Johnson II said JA Solar's cash burn could mean trouble, estimating the company will run out of money at some point in the first or second quarter of next year at the current rate. The analyst contends the company "may be on borrowed time," assuming it is not acquired or taken private. Johnson II keeps a Sell rating on JA Solar shares.

SunTrust analyst Andrew Jeffrey raised his price target on MasterCard to $215 and kept his Buy rating after its Q1 results. The analyst says the company is demonstrating its position as a "most innovative and competitively advantaged Payments ecosystem participant" with an "impressive" core business trend indicative of market share gains and cyclical tailwinds.

05/03/18

CANT

05/03/18NO CHANGETarget $213CANTOverweight

MasterCard price target raised to $213 from $198 at Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Joseph Foresi raised his price target for MasterCard to $213 following yesterday's Q1 results. The analyst likes Mastercard's "ability to grow faster than peers and its potential to expand margins." He reiterates an Overweight rating on the shares.

Tigress Financial analyst Ivan Feinseth kept his Strong Buy rating on MasterCard, saying the company remains on his Research Focus List and Focus Opportunity Portfolio. The analyst notes the company continues to increase its gross dollar volume and market share penetration, accelerating its business performance. Feinseth adds that 2018 will be a strong year for the company as its benefits from constructive macroeconomic trends.

05/03/18

NOMU

05/03/18NO CHANGETarget $213NOMUBuy

MasterCard price target raised to $213 from $195 at Nomura Instinet

Nomura Instinet analyst Bill Carcache raised his price target for MasterCard to $213 citing a stronger sales outlook following the company's Q1 results. The analyst keeps a Buy rating on the shares.